Though no honeymoon was kick-started between Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thakre and BJP boss Amit Shah after the recent secret, two hour meeting, yet, the shared political miseries of both are such that they are keeping their conversation going. Despite its myriad problems with the BJP, the Sena still remains an ally in the Maharashtra and Central governments. It is learnt that when Shah went to meet Thakre to sooth his feathers, the latter insisted that seat sharing formula cannot be restricted to New Delhi, but the 2010 seat sharing be repeated in Mumbai as well. But Shah rejected this outright. But it is an imperative for Sena to hang on the the BJP’s coattails. This is because of the Mumbai municipal corporation, or BMC. The Sena knows that its Mayor is a grace of BJP. The BMC alone has an annual budget of Rs 40,000 crore, so BMC is the basis of Sena’s existence. The BJP on the other had needs to be seen with an old friend in the Opposition clamour that is rubbing out Modi’s shine after the series of recent by-poll defeats for the saffron party.